Residents at Hollywood apartment complex forced to evacuate after carbon monoxide exposure

Residents at a large Hollywood apartment complex were forced to evacuate after a toxic exposure scare.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call in the 7300 block of West Hawthorne Avenue around 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Upon arrival, firefighters say a carbon monoxide alarm went off for the first and second floors of the building.

LAFD later saw in its gas monitor that the apartment complex had detected hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide – mostly in one corner of the first floor.

A total of five units were forced to evacuate, LAFD said.

There were construction workers doing repairs in the impacted units, LAFD said.

It is unknown how the toxic exposure happened in the first place.

No medical complaints were reported in Thursday's chemical exposure scare.